Does Obama Need Hillary Clinton?
Published in Die Welt
(Germany) on 15 November 2008
by Andrea Seibel (link to original)
Barack Obama would make a clever move with his nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. She has international experience, which he lacks, and would be a trustworthy and strong supporter.
She is back again. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the woman who always was and will always be only the woman at his side, whether he is Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Rumors swirl that Obama offered her the position of Secretary of State. Considering both people, and remembering their historic duel not only as one between a man and a woman, but rather between a black man and a feminist woman, the category of losing does not fit.
Strategy belongs to politics, tactics and the will to power for all time. It may have been hurtful to this woman to have been accused of this, this woman who has spent her life climbing up the ladder of power and ambition. It accuses this Machiavellian woman, who forced motherly tears in order to appear more human, of being a cold-hearted career opportunist and thereby glorifies the nuances of ambiguity of Obama. But the American culture displays crises in quantity, to which we Europeans are hardly capable of. In the moment of ones own defeat to bow before the other and place oneself in their service, Hillary did just that (John McCain did as well). These are no hollow gestures, but rather acts of self-liberation and humility. There is a life afterward, or better, that life goes on. Hillary Clinton is politically certain. Now the prospect on a new roll seems enticing. But it was not the Vice Presidency that was offered to her, but rather that of Secretary of State, with the harsh reality: The world is the way it is, not the way one whitewashes it. Obama anticipates that he needs in this position a strong, faithful, and solution-oriented person, just like Bill Clinton found in Madeleine Albright. In the election campaign Hillary Clinton, not only in the case of Iraq, had a clearer message than Obama. And she knows the world better than him. Clinton would be a tough diplomat and move on the world stage with a self-assured presence. A man, even the president, must first endure this.
Will she accept the call? The woman, who is still set on her own presidency, could feel that Obama's presidency has an inherent special brilliance, in which she could also bask in. Two strong opponents in the election campaign, whose strengths with cooperation only increase and merge. To a beautiful, and downright idealistic idea. But will it become a reality?
She is back again. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the woman who always was and will always be only the woman at his side, whether he is Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Rumors swirl that Obama offered her the position of Secretary of State. Considering both people, and remembering their historic duel not only as one between a man and a woman, but rather between a black man and a feminist woman, the category of losing does not fit.
Strategy belongs to politics, tactics and the will to power for all time. It may have been hurtful to this woman to have been accused of this, this woman who has spent her life climbing up the ladder of power and ambition. It accuses this Machiavellian woman, who forced motherly tears in order to appear more human, of being a cold-hearted career opportunist and thereby glorifies the nuances of ambiguity of Obama. But the American culture displays crises in quantity, to which we Europeans are hardly capable of. In the moment of ones own defeat to bow before the other and place oneself in their service, Hillary did just that (John McCain did as well). These are no hollow gestures, but rather acts of self-liberation and humility. There is a life afterward, or better, that life goes on. Hillary Clinton is politically certain. Now the prospect on a new roll seems enticing. But it was not the Vice Presidency that was offered to her, but rather that of Secretary of State, with the harsh reality: The world is the way it is, not the way one whitewashes it. Obama anticipates that he needs in this position a strong, faithful, and solution-oriented person, just like Bill Clinton found in Madeleine Albright. In the election campaign Hillary Clinton, not only in the case of Iraq, had a clearer message than Obama. And she knows the world better than him. Clinton would be a tough diplomat and move on the world stage with a self-assured presence. A man, even the president, must first endure this.
Will she accept the call? The woman, who is still set on her own presidency, could feel that Obama's presidency has an inherent special brilliance, in which she could also bask in. Two strong opponents in the election campaign, whose strengths with cooperation only increase and merge. To a beautiful, and downright idealistic idea. But will it become a reality?
The nightmare unfolds.